Savage - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Sabhaois
Meaning: Norman - “wild”
Traditional stronghold: Down
In the Ards peninsula since 1177.
Pronunciation: SAV-ij
History of the Savage name
Savage (le Sauvage, 'the wild one') is one of the oldest Anglo-Norman surnames in Ireland, planted in the Ards peninsula of County Down after John de Courcy's invasion of Ulster in 1177. Unlike most Norman colonies in the north, the Savages of the Ards endured, serving repeatedly as seneschals of Ulster and holding Portaferry for centuries; the fourteenth-century Sir Robert Savage is remembered for declaring that a castle of bones - brave men - was better than a castle of stones. The family split into gaelicised and Old English branches, and the name later spread through Down and into Dublin and Munster. It remains most common in its original east Ulster homeland.
Variants: Savadge · Savidge · Sauvage
Famous bearers of the name
- Sir Robert Savage - Fourteenth-century seneschal of Ulster who defended the Ards against Gaelic resurgence.
- Marmion Savage - Dublin-born Victorian novelist and satirist, author of The Falcon Family.
- Derek Savage - Galway forward on the All-Ireland football winning teams of 1998 and 2001.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murray · Rooney · Garvey · Fitzsimons · Magennis · McCartan · Gillespie · Lowry